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(Before you guys get the double special review of the last two episodes of Season 1, here’s a single-episode review of the lead-in to those final episodes)

1x06 “Cooper’s Dreams”

Like last episode, “Cooper Dreams” is a decent episode that leaves me a bit disappointed. Through the most of it, it felt like the show was spinning its wheels, continuing to set things up and build up to events that haven’t yet reach to a place of fruition. But there was some payoff to one of the show’s subplots and I’ll get to that later.

I find the nuisance of the Icelandic guests disrupting Cooper’s mood hilarious and relatable. How many of us have been tormented by noisy neighbors? He was back in his chipper mood after some coffee and donut only to be put back out of it near the end of the episode by that same nuisance. At least, he has something else to distract from it: a naked Audrey in his bed.

Audrey. Audrey. Audrey. You continue to be quite the multi-layered enigma. You can be ruthlessly determined to get what you want (a quality you obviously gained from your father) which became clear in the scene with the head of the Horne store. You sometimes come off as an impish troublemaker with your twisted sense of humor. But there are moments of humanity in you, three of which I have counted in this episode. The first is the temporary look of displeasure on you when you saw your father getting inmate with another woman. You laugh afterwards; perhaps to push down the hurt you felt about that and telling yourself that was typical Dad. The second moment of humanity is when you saw Leland falling apart in the house party. Unlike your father, you didn’t treat Leland’s pain as a troublesome inconvenience. You cried for him which is the perhaps first time I saw you cry. And the third moment of humanity is the look of desperation on you face when you were found in Cooper’s bed. You didn’t want to be alone or rejected by Cooper. You want to be loved and I’m thinking Cooper is the type of man you wish your father was more like. Heroic, good-hearted, and doesn’t use people. But what Cooper thinks of you is a mystery. I can’t tell if Cooper is genuinely attracted to you or just indulging you. We’ll see soon in the beginning of next episode.

I can’t believe Ben has a wood carve of his first name on his own desk. Self-absolved much? And why is he so uncomfortable dealing with Leland? I would think having a daughter himself, Ben would be more sympathetic to Leland’s loss of Laura.

The confirmation of Renault’s blood on Leo’s shirt removes Leo as a suspect in Laura’s murder and so does what the Log Lady’s log saw the night of Laura’s murder. Cooper thinks the two girls in the log’s vision are Laura and Rennet (the girl recovering in the hospital after suffering the same injuries as Laura) and Sheriff Truman thinks the two men are Renault and maybe Leo. The third man, the one passing by afterwards, must be the murderer.

Another layer of Cooper’s vision in 1x02 is revealed when the red curtains in that dream are the same type of curtains used in a cabin where Laura posed for a magazine to attract older men. There’s a patch of blood in the cabin. Could that blood may be Renault’s blood? He was bleeding enough to get some of his blood on Leo’s shirt. He must have been wounded at that time. But by what or who? The cabin also gave Cooper another clue in the investigation: a One-Eyed Jack chip. Hopefully, Cooper will stop by there in the next episode.

James’s reveal about his mother has me thinking that his feelings for Laura may have been fueled by a need to fill in the void created by his mother’s troubles. That need seem to be flaring up again during James’s interactions with Madeline despite how things are going with Donna. Donna sees James’s eagerness to please Madeline and seems a bit fearful of it. I think she’s afraid he’ll fall for Madeline because of how she looks like Laura. Well, Donna, you may be right on the money about that based on the enthralled looks James gives Madeline. So Madeline’s involvement in James and Donna’s personal investigation of Laura’s murder is going to make things interesting. She already found an important clue in the form of a tape found in Laura’s hiding place. What could be the tape be a recording of? A confession? A secret meeting? Blackmail?

Dr. Jacoby’s session with Bobby was quite revealing. For a moment, the sad boy that lies underneath his tough guy exterior is exposed. What Bobby said about Laura was quite an insight into the depth of Laura’s self-loathing and personal turmoil. Stuff like that doesn’t come out of nowhere. Something terrible must have happened to her to twist her up so much inside. I also think Laura made Bobby felt like he couldn’t do much good in his life and might as well accept it instead fight the cruel inevitable. She even made him sell drugs so she could have them. It sounds the two of them had a toxic relationship despite appearances. Shelley, on the other hand, seems to be the light against Laura’s darkness. She isn’t pure like a fairy tale princess and she makes Bobby feel like he can be more than what Laura made him felt like. I now see why Shelley isn’t some fling to Bobby.

Norma’s ex-husband Hank continues to be his creepy self. I think he’s just full of shit and standing in the way of Norma and Hank having the life they dreamed of having together. Him and Hank’s sense of obligation with Nadine. I was surprised that it turns out Hank is Leo’s boss when I thought all this time Leo worked for himself. I did enjoy someone beating the crap out of Leo instead of the other way around and that isn’t the last of Leo’s karmic punishment which brings us to the payoff I spoken of in the beginning. The tension between Leo and Shelley finally comes to a head. Earlier, the way Shelley was looking at Norma and Hank was like she was thinking to herself that if she doesn’t get rid of Leo, that she might be end up like Norma-still tied to a man she doesn’t love and refuses to leave her life completely. So Shelley decides to change that future by shooting Leo. Unfortunately, Leo isn’t dead. But at least he’s wounded and it sounds painful

Random observations and thoughts:

Madeline had a feeling Laura was in trouble the day before she died. Could she have a psychic gift similar to Laura’s mother’s?

Catherine is jealous of Ben sleeping with other women? I thought their relationship was purely sexual. Maybe Ben pursuing other women threatens Catherine’s ego. She tends to carry herself as a woman with balls and the top dog in her relationship with Pete.

The roughneck in Twin Peaks’ show-within-show Invitation to Love reminds me of Leo. Was that on purpose?

I wondered if the Devil the Log Lady’s husband met may have been the mysterious Bob, and if the log the Log Lady cherishes was made by her husband and so she holds onto it, partially as something to remember him by. Or, and this is a troubling thought, what if the Devil aka Bob turned the Log Lady’s husband into a log as some kind of twisted joke and that is why she brings it with her all the time?

Leland’s meltdown at the hotel party seems to have been triggered by music. Come to think of it, music was also the trigger for the meltdown Leland had in the dance back at the bar. Connection?

Josie’s working with Ben? Are they sleeping together? Is Josie cheating on Truman? Ben told her where to find the accurate financial records of the mill Catherine was hiding from her and Pete. Why would Ben need them? To blackmail Catherine?

I can’t believe Ben has a wood carve of his first name on his own desk. Self-absolved much?

At the time, I assumed the wood carve was something his daughter made for him in grade school (it was a common artsy craft project in the 70s IIRC) and actually humanized him a bit.

And why is he so uncomfortable dealing with Leland? I would think having a daughter himself, Ben would be more sympathetic to Leland’s loss of Laura.

Because Ben was emotionally distant in general and Leland was acting batshit insane. Furthermore, wasn't Leland Ben's lawyer? People want their attorney to be the calm one who makes them feel better, not the other way around.

(Disclaimer: I haven't rewatched the show since 1995 so my memory might be a little off in some areas)

Sorry about the long delay in receiving new Twin Peak reviews that has been going on, on my end. I have been preoccupied with college work, especially the finals. I can't say when exactly I'll get back to posting more TP reviews to delight you all. All I can say is that I hope it will be soon and that I still intend on keeping my promise regarding the Twin Peaks goal I stated in the beginning of my thread.

It's me again. I know it's been a little more than a year since my posting. No, I'm not ready to post new reviews. I have my hands full with other things. But until then, I thought you guys would like to enjoy this tribute to the series you love I found on Youtube.

I just finished rewatching it myself a few weeks ago. This was my first time watching it on anything but old VHS tapes and/or a dorm room TV.

A few random observations:

I have to say I never realized that Lara Flynn Boyle had so many freckles. Hi-def.

I forgot how great a character Albert was. In some ways, he was the only character to have an arc on the show. He started out as the arrogant SOB who hated everyone and by the end, he seemed kind of humbled and almost a part of the "gang."

Ray Wise was even better than I remember especially toward the end of his run on the series.

I understand McLachlan's discomfort at the proposed Cooper/Audrey romance, but I think it worked better than the Cooper/Annie arc. If I had had my druthers, especially rewatching it now, I think the better course of action would have been keep it chaste, let Audrey have her crush on Cooper, let Cooper be...interested...but unwilling to act because of the age different and let a deep friendship develop that we could have thought might blossom into something more when she got older.

Beyond that, I stand by my earlier comments. They should have ended with episode 18. Cooper, Truman, Albert, the Major, etc., standing in the words. Albert's questioning comment about the evil that men do and then the bird. It all started to fall apart after that and, in fact, you could see it starting to fall apart around the edges even before that, with the food critic, Leo/Bobby/Shelley, Nadine's super strength, Donna's parentage, etc. Even if you like the cliffhanger ending (I don't) far too much else of the show was way off the rails by the time season two ended.

__________________
"All charges are merely accusations, and any/all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law."

Beyond that, I stand by my earlier comments. They should have ended with episode 18. Cooper, Truman, Albert, the Major, etc., standing in the words. Albert's questioning comment about the evil that men do and then the bird. It all started to fall apart after that and, in fact, you could see it starting to fall apart around the edges even before that, with the food critic, Leo/Bobby/Shelley, Nadine's super strength, Donna's parentage, etc. Even if you like the cliffhanger ending (I don't) far too much else of the show was way off the rails by the time season two ended.

You may be right from what I've heard about those episodes. But, to make my own determination of the overall series, I have to see all of Season 2 and not just the ones that involve the Laura Palmer murder arc. I may come up with an opinion similar to yours or something altogether different.

FYI, a super deluxe Twin Peaks blu ray box set, complete with Fire Walk With Me (which absolutely MUST be watched after the series, not before, as it will spoil the biggest twist in the series) and something like an hour and a half or more of deleted scenes from the series and movie, as well as a few new scenes filmed! I am SO excited about this, as I am a big TP fan.